Robert

There was good reason poor Glenn was a train wreck every Monday, if we had played a gig over the weekend. If there was a Friday gig, as well as a Saturday one, we skipped school altogether, and Kim Venable would drive down and collect us, and back to Tuskegee, before lunch. Kim was an only child, and his overindulgent father had built a small abode behind their main house for the sole purpose of letting Kim practice his drums in the privacy it provided. It also served as a place for the whole group to jam, and offered storage for instruments, and several beds, a shower, and a refrigerator for the beer that flowed nonstop.

His dad was into some sort of foundry/iron work there in Tuskegee, and had made the trailer we used custom, to fit exactly what was needed on the road, and Glenn and I were welcomed guests, either in the large home, or out back in that " Rumpus Room". His mother cooked exceptionally fine Southern meals, and we were expected at the dinner table with each of these. If the gig was close by, we came back to Kim's house; if not, it was the usual motels. By Sunday, everyone was blown out, so someone driving us back to Dothan was out of the question; off to the airport in Montgomery (30 miles away), and home on the most rustic, noisiest old airplane I've ever been on. It was some pre-WW2 thing, but a flight, for 11 bucks got us home around 10pm, with Glenn's mom collecting us in Dothan. Most of the time, I just spent the night there, and also arrived at school looking like an unmade bed, as well, if I went at all. Even teens have a breaking point, where sleep is involved.

Kim's parents treated us like their own, and were gracious, gentle folk, a kindness I'll never forget. Marvin and Tommy also lived in Tuskegee, with Ray Goss not far away in Tallassee, so we were off and running in no time flat. Most gigs during the school year were at Auburn, in one fraternity house or another, and an easy drive back to Tuskegee. How can I forget wading ankle-deep in spilt beer, loading the trailer, after one of those frat parties? The frat boys made sure we had a good time, too, but I was always saddled with the job of driving, so I had to remain somewhat sober. No one at any of the parties drank more than Tommy "Swampman" Mann, the singer, but we were used to that; he did it without fail, if alcohol was available. I recall gigs in dry counties where my first taste of "moonshine" happened, but a party was had, somehow, after each gig. The groupies and hangers-on always provided us with something, back in the motel of choice, and we never declined.

Now you know why Glenn Griffin slept during study hall, every Monday; he was part of the "Outer Mongolian Herd"

L. S. D.

 

from Marvin Taylor:

Louis “Snake “ Davis was a force of nature for his age. He was barely old enough to drive and stepped up admirably to the road manager duties. He was even point man for Tommy in securing needed lodging and all the various and sundry minutiae of road life. The youngest by years of all our crew, he played a huge role in K-Otics history.